Chapter 1 An Auspicious Start, A Coincidence

Cupping a handful of water and splashing it on his face, Zhou Ze slowly raised his head, looking at himself in the mirror. He looked slightly haggard, a common feature for an emergency room doctor.

"Dr. Zhou, a new patient is arriving soon, apparently fell from upstairs, not sure if it's a suicide!" Nurse Wang Ya shouted from the doorway of the men's restroom.

"Got it, I'll be right there." Zhou Ze responded, then pulled out a paper towel, wiped the water off his face, and started heading out.

The ambulance soon pulled into the hospital. Lying on the stretcher was an old man dressed in a gray Tang suit. The old man was coughing incessantly, occasionally spitting out bloody froth and fragments of visceral organs, his whole body covered in blood and grime.

Zhou Ze rushed over immediately, pushing the stretcher while observing the injured man's condition, simultaneously shouting to the people ahead, "Prepare the surgical instruments, quick!"

The injured man was in a bad condition.

"I...I...don't want to die."

The old man opened his eyes, looking at Zhou Ze, the closest person to him.

"Don't worry, you'll be alright, we'll help you, you won't die."

Most patients on the verge of death would say something like this. After all, few people can truly face death calmly. And as a doctor, this is definitely not the time to analyze the condition for the injured man, telling him how much chance he has of surviving. What the injured man needs at this moment is psychological comfort.

"No...no...below...below...below is really too terrifying..."

The old man suddenly grabbed Zhou Ze's wrist, looking at him with a serious expression.

"Calm down, relax, your life won't be in danger." Although his wrist was a bit sore, Zhou Ze didn't try to break free.

"I don't want...don't want to go down again...they...they found me...I...they found me..."

"Hiss..." Zhou Ze suddenly felt a sharp pain in his wrist.

"Dr. Zhou, your hand!" The nurse beside him immediately shouted.

The old man's fingernails were long, and for some reason, they were black, a translucent black like amber, not like there was dirt accumulated inside;

And at this moment, the old man's fingernails had already dug into the flesh of Zhou Ze's wrist.

"I'm not going down...not going down...not going down...haha...cough cough cough..."

The old man suddenly sat up and coughed violently. Immediately afterward, his body trembled, and the hand that was holding Zhou Ze's wrist fell away, and he lost all movement.

"Prepare for resuscitation!" Zhou Ze shouted.

The old man was pushed into the emergency room, and doctors and nurses began to perform resuscitation measures on him. At the same time, the defibrillator was also ready.

"Dr. Zhou, let me treat your wound." Wang Ya walked over at this time.

As doctors, they were not actually worried about this small flesh wound. What they were most worried about was if the old man had other diseases, which could put the doctor in a dangerous professional exposure situation. After all, the old man had just had a lot of blood on his hands, and no one knew if he had any infectious diseases.

Some diseases, once contracted, could ruin a person's life.

After the wound was bandaged, another doctor walked out of the emergency room and shook his head at Zhou Ze.

This meant that the person hadn't been saved.

Everyone's mood was a bit down, but for them, they were already used to this kind of thing and would adjust quickly.

"Dr. Zhou, get a check-up." Wang Ya suggested.

"No, I have some things to do tonight." Zhou Ze shook his head, went directly to the changing room to change his clothes, then walked to the hospital parking lot and drove away.

Just as the car reached the Jianghai Avenue overpass, Zhou Ze's cell phone rang.

"Hello, this is Zhou Ze."

"Dr. Zhou, the children are waiting for you."

"I'm sorry, Principal Wu, I was delayed by a patient. I'll be right there, please have the children wait for me a little longer."

"Okay, okay." The other end quickly hung up.

Zhou Ze looked at the time again. It was already 8:30 in the evening. The children at the orphanage usually went to bed very early.

The red light turned green, and Zhou Ze stepped on the gas pedal and drove off.

"Honk!!!!!!!!!!"

At that moment,

A heavy truck ran a red light and came over. Zhou Ze only had time to turn his head to look at the blinding headlights outside the car window,

And then,

"Bang!"

The world spun,

The small car was like a delicate piece of paper in front of the heavy truck, directly smashed away, rolled several times in the air, and then crashed to the ground.

…………

"Ugh..."

Zhou Ze woke up,

He found that his body couldn't move at all, as if it was stuck.

At the same time, he couldn't open his eyes. He knew he had been in a car accident, a very serious car accident. Out of professional habit, he really wanted to check his injuries now, but he couldn't move.

Around him, he could hear the sounds of other vehicles passing by from time to time, as well as various honking noises.

Am I still at the scene of the accident?

Am I still in the car?

Zhou Ze thought to himself.

Soon,

The sirens of police cars came, as well as the sound of fire trucks,

Finally, the sound of the ambulance that Zhou Ze found familiar came.

Zhou Ze sensed that his body was being moved. The temperature nearby was a bit high, so they must be cutting open his car to rescue him.

Zhou Ze had participated in many of these rescue operations, so he was clear about some of the procedures.

What a pity, the cake in his back seat, and the Children's Day party for the children at the orphanage, could only be canceled.

"Dr. Zhou!"

A familiar voice called out.

It should be Dr. Chen from the hospital.

Zhou Ze breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. At least, he had saved his life. This could be considered a stroke of bad luck, right?

There were also the voices of several nurses nearby, but because it was too noisy nearby, Zhou Ze couldn't hear them clearly.

But then, Dr. Chen's words made Zhou Ze's heart plummet to the bottom!

"Dr. Zhou has lost his vital signs."

No,

I'm not dead!

I'm not dead yet!

I'm not dead!!

Zhou Ze screamed desperately in his heart!

He wasn't dead, he was still conscious, he wasn't dead!

Next, Zhou Ze sensed that someone was doing CPR on him. He felt the heavy compressions, but he couldn't open his eyes or speak.

He wasn't dead,

He hoped they would quickly realize he wasn't dead!

But after a busy effort,

Zhou Ze heard the sound of several nurses he knew crying,

Dr. Chen punched the nearby car door, appearing very sad.

Hey!

Don't give up!

Don't give up!

I'm not dead!

I should be in a state of suspended animation,

Excessive blood loss?

Serious injuries?

But I'm really not dead!

I should still be breathing, I should still have a heartbeat!

Zhou Ze roared frantically in his heart.

But then, he sensed that he was being carried onto a stretcher, and should be being sent into the ambulance.

Immediately afterward, was the sound of the ambulance starting.

The nurses in the car were still crying.

But this crying was especially jarring in Zhou Ze's ears,

He wasn't dead,

What are you crying for!

Why are you crying!

Take another look at me,

Take another look at me,

Check again,

I'm not dead!

The ambulance stopped,

Then, Zhou Ze heard the hospital leader speaking:

"Little Zhou is just gone like this?"

"The car accident was very serious, Dr. Zhou was injured too badly, lost too much blood, he's been confirmed dead."

"Really? He's just gone like that?" Another vice president still didn't believe it.

"Little Zhou is gone." This was the voice of a department director, "I just checked again."

I'm not dead!

You bunch of quacks!

I'm not dead!

You bunch of bastards!

Bastards!

Zhou Ze cursed endlessly in his heart. At this moment, the people around him were no longer his colleagues, nor were they his friends, let alone his leaders and elders,

They actually believed he was already dead,

But can a dead person still hear and feel?

I'm not dead!

You bunch of bastards,

Beasts,

I'm not dead!

Save me!

Save me!

The stretcher started moving, the surroundings were quiet, and the temperature was gradually decreasing.

"Xiao Ya, don't be too sad. The president said the hospital will hold a memorial service for Dr. Zhou tomorrow."

"Sister Suqin, I just can't believe it, a person is just gone like this. Dr. Zhou was such a good person, how could he just be gone like this."

"There are unexpected events in the sky, and fortunes and misfortunes happen to people overnight. Just be optimistic."

After the two nurses finished speaking, they left.

The surroundings,

Were empty,

That kind of eerie coldness,

Was so clear.

Zhou Ze kept struggling, constantly trying to resist. He wanted to wake up, he desperately wanted to make his voice heard.

But his current feeling was like being paralyzed by a ghost, no matter how hard he tried, his body was not under his control at all.

In the end,

He gave up in despair,

He was tired,

And exhausted,

He knew where he was now,

In the hospital's,

Morgue.

………………

When Zhou Ze woke up again, he sensed a faint coolness on his face, and the stinging sensation was also clear.

"Is the makeup done yet?" Someone asked nearby.

"Don't rush, wait a minute, his whole body was smashed like this, how can the makeup be done so quickly."

"The hospital is urging, they're going to send him to the memorial service soon."

"Why don't you do it then."

The mortician seemed a little angry, and applied the makeup more forcefully. Of course, the clients they faced were dead people. Dead people naturally wouldn't say it hurt, and there was no need to worry about receiving complaints. They only needed to let the living see the results.

Zhou Ze didn't have the strength to struggle anymore,

He just stayed there quietly,

Enduring the stinging sensation of the makeup brush pressing down on his face,

Finally,

The makeup was finished.

"Alright, tell them to come in, our work is done."

Zhou Ze felt himself being changed, and then he was pushed out. The hospital orderly carried him into a soft, cramped space.

This,

Should be a refrigerated coffin.

Then, all the surrounding noise was instantly cut off,

The lid must have been closed.

Shaking,

Swaying,

Bumping...

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Ze finally heard sounds again. The lid of the refrigerated coffin must have been opened.

The sound that entered his ears,

Was mourning music.

The president was speaking into a microphone, he was praising him, lamenting him,

Then came the vice president and the director and so on.

Around him,

There were sounds of footsteps passing by from time to time,

Some people just quietly walked past, taking one last look at him,

Some people even tried to call out to him a few times, with a sobbing tone,

This was viewing the remains.

Viewing,

My remains!

I'm not dead,

I'm really not dead,

I'm not dead yet!

Not dead!

Zhou Ze wailed in his heart,

He tried to work hard again,

But still there was no way,

He could only hear and feel,

But he couldn't speak,

Nor could he open his eyes,

Everyone believed he was dead,

But he himself knew,

He wasn't dead yet!

The children from the orphanage also came, crying by his side.

They cried very sincerely, because Zhou Ze himself was a child who had come out of the orphanage. Therefore, after starting work, most of his salary was donated to the orphanage. This car accident happened because he was rushing to drive back to the orphanage at night to accompany the children for Children's Day.

"Xiao Zhou, go peacefully, you can be considered to have died on duty this time. You have no family, but the hospital will give your compensation to the orphanage, so rest assured." The vice president said standing by Zhou Ze's side.

Afterward,

Zhou Ze sensed that he was isolated again, the lid of the refrigerated coffin must have been closed again.

Then there was another series of bumps,

Finally, it stopped.

The refrigerated coffin lid was opened again,

The surroundings were a bit quiet, and occasionally he heard human voices, but they didn't seem noisy.

Two people, one grabbing his shoulders and one grabbing his legs, lifted him up, and then placed him on another cold rack, like a steel plate.

These two people were very skilled, very, very skilled.

Around him, there were faint sounds of sobbing.

Zhou Ze couldn't initially distinguish where he had come to again,

But at this moment,

He suddenly understood,

Bastards!

They sent him to the crematorium!

They were going to burn him!

I'm not dead, you bastards!

I'm not dead!

Not dead yet!

Don't cremate me,

Don't cremate me!

I'm really not dead!!!!!!!!!!!!

This time, was Zhou Ze's most insane time, and also the most frantic time,

He knew,

Once he was cremated,

There would be no room for error!

He would directly face death!

Complete and utter ending!

He was unwilling, he was really unwilling. He wasn't even thirty years old yet, he hadn't started a family, he didn't have any children, he still had a life, he still had a long road to walk!

"Mom, I just saw that uncle's hand move." A little girl's timid voice rang out nearby.

"Slap!" A small slap was delivered.

"Don't talk nonsense, wait till I get home to deal with you." The girl's mother scolded.

Zhou Ze despaired,

Because no matter how he struggled,

How he roared in his heart,

The people outside couldn't sense it.

He was placed on a conveyor belt,

The machine started up,

He was being pushed forward,

He knew what he was about to face,

Therefore, he was extremely terrified!

No,

No,

No!

I'm not dead, I'm really not dead!

Don't burn me!

Don't burn me!

No one could hear his calls,

They were only responsible for being sad,

Only responsible for being upset,

Only responsible for completing this process,

And then going home to eat dinner, and continuing on tomorrow.

Finally,

Zhou Ze sensed that he seemed to be pushed into a narrow place full of the smell of fried residue,

Immediately afterward,

A sticky liquid was sprayed on his body,

He knew what this was,

It was gasoline,

Immediately afterward,

"Sizzle..."

Hot!

Very hot!

Pain,

Intense burning pain!

Fire,

Fire,

Big fire,

Everywhere was fire...